Team Meeting

Please pray for our team meeting that is starting tomorrow. Right now team members are traveling from around South America. A lot has happened to complicate things, so please pray that the enemy would be stopped and that everyone would be able to safely arrive. I know all of the team members need this encouragement and time together right now.

Back to Salvatierra

Our team has a meeting later this month in Peru and Roberto had long ago planned to stop for a couple of days in Salvatierra on his way into Peru from Argentina. In a last minute decision, as only Javier can do, he decided to join him. They are hoping to encourage the new believers in the new church that they planted. We were really hoping that they get to spend time with Humberto, the only adult male baptized believer, who is struggling with a lot of peer pressure from the other men in the community.

When Roberto and Javier met up in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, you’ll never guess what was waiting for them there: a roadblock. It was a big one and all over the country. Which meant that they almost certainly weren’t getting to Salvatierra and they would probably have problems even getting back to Peru in time for the meeting. It was surreal for me to hear Trent talking to them on the phone here and to realize that even here in Texas he was having to deal with roadblocks.

I thought about how dirty Satan plays and I couldn’t help but think that this roadblock was just for them. But it isn’t about Javier and Roberto. It’s about those new believers who feel so alone out there and need that encouragement. Like many times before, it looked like our team would be stopped from getting to where we wanted to be.

They had given up all hope that they would make it out to encourage the new believers and had barely found a way to get out of Bolivia in a few days. When all of the sudden, the roadblock was miraculously resolved. Today they will head out to the community! Please pray that Humberto will be in town and not out working so they can spend time with him. Pray for some of the other young men that Javier and Roberto had relationships with, that they would have opportunities to share with them.

Echelon

The couple who met us at the airport when we first landed in South America proved to be a huge part of our lives for the next four years. Jeremy and Susan were more than just our team leaders. They became mentors and friends. Even though in a normal year we only saw each other a couple of times, going through the same things bonded us. They walked beside us, encouraged us and allowed us to encourage them. They told us from the beginning that they were planning to go to Africa at some point and when they finally did it took a while to sink in that they wouldn’t be working alongside of us anymore. But there is an excitement that comes along with it too. We really feel like we are a part of what they are doing in Africa and are excited to see how God will use them there.

They were both there when our team first began and have seen it go through all kinds of changes. Check out the blog for their new team, Echelon, to hear what is going on with them now. Also read their “Mighty Warriors” posts, which are all about our team members, many of which you will probably remember from our previous blogs. I recommend starting at the beginning as this new chapter in their ministry is just starting, at http://echelon-africablog.blogspot.com/.

Kelli’s Blog

In the last post I talked about Leah, one of our teammates who is continuing our work in Salvatierra and today I’ll direct you to her partner, Kelli’s, blog. Kelli and Leah didn’t know each other before they signed up for this job. They didn’t even know they would be working so closely with one another. And to be honest, they are about as different as two people can be. But the Lord worked it all out so well; their strengths complement each other and they have become a powerful team. I think both of them can see how important it has been having a partner in this work.

Even though Kelli is experiencing the same things Leah wrote about in her blog, they each bring their own perspective. Kelli’s latest blog talks about their last trip and has a great video at the end of it: http://www.solidrockfoundation.blogspot.com/

Team Work

One of the things we have really learned this past term is just how small of a part we play in all of this. We are just a piece of the puzzle and we have to be content with how God allows us to be used in his big plan. We have also seen just how important a team is. One of the main reasons why we were able to keep going and are wanting to go back on the field is that we had such a great support system; a group of people going through the same thing as us who were able to encourage and help us to keep going. And then we were able to feel like we could encourage them when they got down. We really depend on one another and need each other.

In the next couple of days I thought I could send you to a few other blogs written by people on our team. I think you will see that their stories sound similar to ours with their own perspective. Today I want you to hear from Leah. When we left Salvatierra, it was reassuring that Leah and Kelli, the women who have led and persevered on our women’s team, would still be working there. But we knew that they would face a hard road. Everyone from our team in Bolivia have gone home for a time, leaving them feeling very alone. We have talked to them a lot but other than praying, we knew that there was very little we could do to help them get through the last part of their terms, carrying such a heavy weight of having new believers look to them as their source of spiritual guidance. They have been amazing to take on this task and do it well. Their terms end in April and I would ask that you pray for them as they strive to finish strong.

Here is a link to Leah’s blog to hear the latest on what is going on in Salvatierra. I especially enjoyed her last blog and hope you will take a second to read it: http://jungle4cristo.blogspot.com/

I’m Back

This title applies to so many things right now in my life. Obviously it’s been a while since I’ve blogged. A friend reminded me this Sunday how long it has been and I realized it is past time to open up my life again. For a while I felt like I had nothing to give in any area. Physically I was exhausted. When I thought about it, the last four years I have lived in a hut in the jungle, lived in a mud house in the mountains, moved five times into what were mostly very nice houses, traveled numerous hours cars, buses and planes, learned 1 1/2 languages, birthed two babies, nursed each one for a year, and then chased those two babies all over South America. That’s a lot to cram into four years. I was spent more than I ever imagined I could be.

But being physically drained doesn’t begin to describe what I felt. Mentally I blocked out any major decisions and just felt incapable of taking in too much. Emotionally I felt a little dead. After opening up so much in the last four years, loving so deeply, and then realizing that what sometimes comes with that is getting hurt deeply, I was trying to block out the fact that in a short time I would have to say goodbye to people I loved when we left Bolivia. Spiritually I was dry as a bone. I remember sitting on my bed trying to spend time with the Lord and only being able to pray, “Lord, help me to make it through.”

When we got back it didn’t automatically get better. I would stare at the screen that displayed worship songs without any emotion and tell the Lord, “I am useless to you right now.” No matter how much rest we got, it seemed like we were still tired. We went to a debriefing conference and as the counselor listed the signs of burnout, I realized I had every single one of them. Then slowly, after a few months actually, I gradually began to feel like myself again. I was in the car one day with a Christian radio station playing. I started singing along and it hit me that for the first time in a while, I actually felt something! After feeling numb for so many months it was incredible. When we spoke at churches, I began to not only know why we had to go back, but to get excited about it again.

Now I feel like I’m getting my head back in the game a little. We still have over five months left on our stateside assignment, and I plan to use it to prepare: physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. This game isn’t over yet.

One Week In

A little over two weeks ago I was swinging in a hammock in our little room in Salvatierra. It was 95 degrees outside and the wind was stirring up the dust on our dirt floor as the kids napped in their tents. A chicken walked through to see what he might find on the ground. Outside I heard a wild horse run by and a pig scurried out of the way. A Guarayo woman walked past with a basket of firewood strapped to her forehead. I remember thinking, two weeks from today I’ll be in Texas. It didn’t seem real at the time but it did happen and we are here.

We’ve been home for one week and we are still adjusting. We’ve really enjoyed spending time with family and are looking forward to visiting my parents and our church there this weekend. It has been great to see our kids play with their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Church Sunday was really overwhelming, but we were excited to see everyone and to thank them for setting up this amazing house we are staying in.

We’re trying to catch up on all the technology. I didn’t know DVD players were so 2010. Who knew that not only can we download movies now but we watch most of our TV shows streaming from the Internet. The house we are in is a little bit out in the country. Well, everybody keeps saying, you guys are just so far out there. But to me it is a place where it is far enough from the Interstate that you can’t hear the traffic but is only 7 minutes from the nearest Target store. I call that perfection. Anyway, everybody keeps saying that the only Internet we can get is so slow. We think it is so fast that we don’t know what to do with ourselves. And even though it is so much slower than everybody else’s, we can still watch TV using it and download a file that would have taken us hours in Bolivia. We are pretty happy about the changing technology.

We are still exhausted and trying to de-stress. So please pray that we would be able to do that and recharge a little.

Baptism in Salvatierra

After a year of work from our team, most of the blood, sweat and tears shed by our guys, we got to see a baptism in Salvatierra! We had talked to the whole group about baptism and it was clear that they really didn’t understand what would literally happen when they got baptized or what it would be like. Some were nervous about the actual process and others openly expressed concern about what others in their community would say about them when they saw them being baptized. They talked about doing it in another community to avoid being made fun of. We encouraged them to have the baptism in their own community to show everyone the decision they had made. Even though it would be difficult for them, it was their first step of obedience. We scheduled a day for the baptism but up until that day we weren’t sure if anyone was really going to go through with it. Because of the cultural barrier, we weren’t exactly sure what they were thinking.

I’ll tell the rest of the story in pictures.

The walk to the river was serious. It was obvious that the ones who had decided to get baptized where not taking this decision lightly. Humberto, one of the men baptized, is pictured here walking in front of the group, which is symbolic, since he is an obvious leader in the new church.

Pictured here is Mariluz with Trent and Ascencio, a Guarayo believer from another city who traveled out with us to help with the baptism.

Mariluz was the first one to wade out into the river and get baptized. This is very fitting since she has always been the one to initiate things. She has taken care of our team like a mother would and every time it is time for a story session, she goes around town and gathers everyone together.

Adela and Mariluz are good friends and have been in this together from the start. When I was talking to Mariluz about who she thought might get baptized, she told me, “Adela and I have decided that we are gonna do it.” I thought this was such a sweet way of showing that they will support and encourage each other in this decision and in their walk with the Lord.

Benjamin would always sit on the outskirts of the group listening to the stories but we weren’t sure how much of it he was understanding. On the day of the baptism, he said to us, “I want to change. Sometimes I get mad and hit my mom and dad and I don’t want to live like that anymore.” After Benjamin was baptized, Trent said to the onlookers that he hoped they would follow in Benjamin’s model of faith.

Humberto is Mariluz’s husband. From the beginning he has been supportive but not nearly as involved as Mariluz and up until the day of baptism I really thought he wasn’t going to be baptized. He surprised us by doing so and since then we have seen a tremendous change in him. He is a natural leader already, but now he leads during the storying sessions giving great insights and helping others learn too. I think that now that he decided he was really going to do this, he is all in. It is exciting to see.

Being a part of a river baptism in a community where the river is such a central part of life reveals one of the intentions of baptism, to be a witness to others. It would be impossible to have the baptism and not draw a crowd. After the baptism, Trent and Ascencio, the Guarayo believer, were able to share the Gospel to those standing around. Here is Trent going after it.

Prayer time with the new baptized believers

All in all, four people got baptized that day. But a bigger group of people have said they have decided to follow Christ and after seeing the baptism, many others have said they want to get baptized too. Please pray for these new believers in their new walk with the Lord and for the others that they would follow their example and be baptized. Praise the Lord for what He has done!!!

Empty Nest Syndrome

For the past 4 years we have been surrounded by young guys who we have trained with or who have been on our team. They have eaten countless meals at our house, spent holidays with us, and loved on our kids like uncles. They have all gone home now, either because their time is up on the team or they are going home to rest for a while before getting back to the work in about a year. Our most recent team members are all visiting with their moms right now, which I must admit, makes me feel more at ease, since I know their moms are making sure they are well fed.

We have been really busy since the last one left just a couple of weeks ago, but to be honest, we don’t know what to do with ourselves. The house is quiet and we actually have leftovers. We miss those guys who we have taken care of and looked up to at the same time. As Trent likes to say in sad moments, “One day soon we’ll all be dead and then we can be together forever.” He has a way with words, doesn’t he.

Spiritual Warfare

From what we’ve seen, spiritual warfare hasn’t been encountering demon possessed people or having people tell us they see angels surrounding us, although I think these things happen. I think more often though, spiritual warfare is much more subtle. And when you think about it, it is most effective for Satan when the people he is attacking don’t even know they are being attacked.

I’ve seen Satan use roadblocks time and time again here in Bolivia to keep us from where we want to be. I don’t know that he is necessarily causing the roadblocks to happen but he sure doesn’t pass up the opportunity. The times that our team has been the most discouraged and disillusioned has been when we are stuck and are unable to get out to the communities.

The other night after we realized we weren’t going to get to the community because of yet another roadblock, I started having discouraging thoughts about everything, from not having as much time as we’ve wanted in the community to not progressing as we quickly as we may have wanted. I was feeling down and then one thought entered my mind that made me know these thoughts were not my own, but were being put there to discourage me. I thought, all this work for just a few people to know Christ. I knew this was not my own thought. These few people have no access to the Gospel otherwise and I believe the work our team has put into them was completely worth it.

I had no reason to be anything but encouraged about how our ministry is wrapping up before our stateside break and here I was doubting everything. It is not the first time I felt a whisper of discouragement in my ear and in that instant I realized what was happening. It seems like as soon as the enemy’s schemes are brought to the light, they flee. And as soon as they came, they were gone.

The enemy uses other tactics and I’ve seen a lot of the same things over and over again. Our team members, Adam and Jessica, have been getting ready for a training. As they were preparing, Adam had to head up and down the river and his boat kept breaking down even though it was in great condition and there was no reason for it to keep breaking. One day, as he was traveling with a few other guys on the team, the motor caught on fire. The other two guys couldn’t swim so they had to get to the shore quickly and watched the motor burn up for about 30 minutes. They were all pretty shaken up and really felt like they had been very close to death. Trent tried to encourage Adam by telling him to be excited! The Lord must be about to do something great if the enemy is trying so hard to stop this training from happening. They started the training on Monday so be praying for them and for the trainees that the Lord is sure to use.

Our guys just recently headed back home to their families for a much needed furlough. Of course they were looking forward to the time to be with their families and relax, but as soon as they got home, they were met with problems and it wasn’t like they thought it was going to be. Right as Roberto got home, his family got involved in a legal issue and instead of spending his first week home enjoying time with his family, everyday, all day was spent working on those problems. Javier got home and a few days later his cousin was unjustly put in prison and he had to try to help him with all of the legal issues, which can be impossible in Peru. While all of this was going on, he got a call saying his mom fell and badly hurt her back.

I’ve never been in a real fist fight, but spiritual warfare feels like that to me. You get knocked down and you have to just get back up and keep fighting. Sometimes it feels like when you are down, you get hit again and again. That’s when it gets exhausting and that’s when it’s important to realize and bring to light what is happening. That’s when we most need prayers and encouragement. I think a lot of people mistake these problems for reasons to give up, but the Lord never uses discouragement to tell you to quit. Only the enemy does that. So that’s when we have to get up, dust ourselves off and keep fighting.